Young Love

As you go through high school, there are many things that you do; being in a romantic relationship is one. (I’m not saying it’s required for the high school experience, but most that I know have been in a romantic relationship at some point in their high school career. It’s also completely ok if you don’t have a romantic relationship in high school.)

Freshman year was when I was in my ‘first real romantic relationship.’ I use air quotes because the summer before my freshman year I had a fling (as my best friend likes to refer to it as) with a guy, but it wasn’t anything serious. Anyhow, my first relationship last nearly two months.

Whenever the fact that I was in a romantic relationship came up in conversation, many people (adults, a couple friends, and even Kris) kept telling me that the relationship wasn’t real (i.e. an ‘adult relationship’). This used to always bug me so much (and still does). How can we start to know what love and relationships are without starting them now? Now, I’m not necessarily saying that a 14 year old should be in a romantic relationship, but if we don’t start to have them in high school how can we know what they’re like after high school?

I get that the dynamics of a relationship change as you get older, but how do you know what a relationship is like without having one now?